AI Training Data Platform Secures $5 Million in Pre-Seed Funding Through Data Guardians Network
In a significant move towards a more inclusive digital economy, Data Guardians Network (D-GN) has successfully raised a $5 million pre-seed funding round. The investment was led by Saudi businessman Hamoud Al-Rumayyan, alongside crypto firm Hub Culture, with D-GN's strategic partner, droppGroup, a US-based company specializing in AI and blockchain solutions, also contributing to the round.
The funds will primarily be used to scale D-GN's operations and expand its presence across the MENA region, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Johanna Cabildo, Founder and CEO of D-GN, emphasizes that the goal is to give everyday people a stake in the future of AI, rather than being the invisible labor behind it.
D-GN is a platform that provides accurate and ethically sourced training data for AI systems. It utilizes a decentralized contributor model with on-chain traceability and payments in Tether's USDT, ensuring fair compensation for contributors. This approach aligns with regional digital transformation goals and addresses ethical concerns about data sourcing in AI development.
Faisal Al Monai, Chairman of droppGroup, believes D-GN is a promising investment compared to Meta's $14-15 billion purchase of Scale AI. He states that D-GN solves a significant industrial problem by transforming global human input into an auditable, tokenized data engine that ethically trains, verifies, and improves AI systems across voice, image, and text.
With this investment, D-GN aims to grow its multimodal datasets and integrate further with open-source and enterprise AI frameworks. This will enable seamless use of high-precision, ethically sourced AI training data by companies and AI labs worldwide. The platform’s blockchain integration ensures transparent contribution tracking and fair compensation of contributors through USDT stablecoin payments.
In addition to geographical expansion, the funds will support scaling contributor operations, which involve a decentralized network of global users performing tasks like image classification and audio annotation. The funds will also be used to develop multimodal data pipelines that handle various data types such as images, audio, and video.
Hamoud Al-Rumayyan, a Saudi businessman and investor, views D-GN as a new model for a more inclusive digital economy aligned with Saudi Vision 2030. He emphasizes that Data Guardians Network includes everyday people in the value creation of AI.
This partnership with droppGroup provides the necessary fuel and infrastructure for D-GN to scale ethical data at a global level. Faisal Al Monai, Chairman of droppGroup, is confident that this investment will strengthen droppGroup's ethical AI infrastructure and enhance its portfolio of compliant and transparent technologies.
In conclusion, the funding raised by Data Guardians Network will be instrumental in its global expansion, growth of multimodal datasets, enhancement of AI framework integrations, and scaling of its decentralized contributor operations, all while maintaining a strong commitment to ethical AI and labor standards.
[1] Source: D-GN Press Release [3] Source: droppGroup Press Release
- Leveraging the recently acquired funding, Data Guardians Network (D-GN) plans to invest in technology and artificial intelligence to grow its multimodal datasets and integrate with various AI frameworks, making ethically sourced AI training data easily accessible for companies and AI labs worldwide.
- This strategic partnership between D-GN and droppGroup, a US-based company specializing in AI and blockchain solutions, aims to ethically scale data at a global level and strengthen droppGroup's portfolio of compliant and transparent technologies, fostering a more inclusive digital economy as part of Saudi Vision 2030.
